Details

Release year: 1942

Storyline

An unemployed actor in Chicago aims to solve the mystery concerning a string of axe murders, apparently committed by a "lunatic".

Top credits

Directors

Charles Lederer

Writers

Cast

Lew Ayres — Oliver Duffy
Laraine Day — Edwina Brown
Basil Rathbone — Dr. H. Santelle
Walter Kingsford — Dr. Cromwall

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Did you know

• Lew Ayres changed his military status from "conscientious-objector" to "non-combatant" in April 1942 causing great consternation at M-G-M, which already re-shot the "Dr Kildare" film he had just completed, removing him from the cast completely. By the time this film was released, the furor had died down and it opened without incident. In fact, one reviewer noted the business was brisk, possibly because of Ayres' honesty and courage in jeopardizing his movie career for the sake of his principles.

• When Lew Ayres goes to the psychiatrist convention he says his name is Dr. Stephen Dedalus from Ireland, who is James Joyce's literary alter ego in "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and "Ulysses".

• Lew Ayres last film for MGM and his last film until The Dark Mirror (1946) after his service as a medic and chaplain's aide in the Pacific during WWII.